Philippians 3:7-14 “But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead. Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”

There is in the industrial world, what is known as preventative maintenance. Periodically equipment is taken out of service to be tested and calibrated to verify that it was working properly. The intervals of preventative maintenance are usually determined by the importance of the equipment with respect to production and safety. What is profitable in secular world is equally profitable in the spiritual world; with respect to preventative maintenance! Few would undervalue or deny the importance of knowing Christ! Concerning the importance of this spiritual principle, Paul said “Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord . . . that I may know him” (vs. 8 & 10). In verse 8 Paul expressed the desire to know God by the act of knowing or having knowledge. In verse 10, Paul means to know God absolutely in a great variety of applications and with many implications. If you declare that knowing God and having an absolute knowledge of Him is a priority; when was the last time that you did preventative maintenance to determine if you are achieving your objective? Within the text there is one area that Paul can check to determine if he is on course to reach his objective; is He preeminent; “for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ” (vs. 8). You don’t need a concordance or dictionary to know the meaning of “lost of all things.” Paul could say that there was nothing more important to him than Christ! The songwriter was right when he wrote, “Prone to wander . . . prone to leave the God I love.” Does Jesus really mean everything to me? I’m afraid that my heart is in need of more preventative maintenance than it’s getting! Getting to Know Him is a priority that only I can control!